New Jersey's once hopelessly mismanaged and poorly funded child welfare system is structurally strong enough to do its job protecting kids at risk of abuse and neglect, according to a report released today by a federal court monitor.

Child welfare expert Judy Meltzer of Washington D.C. examined whether the state Department of Children and Families met goals between July 1, 2008 and Dec. 31, 2008 demonstrating the work force is larger and better trained and supervised, and key services, such as mental health and drug treatment programs for parents, have been expanded. Meltzer concluded the Department, after two years of intense spending, training and expansion, met nearly every goal for improvement and has made steady progress since July 2006, when she began evaluating the state's progress improving the child welfare system's management and structure.

Noah K. Murray/The Star-LedgerDYFS adoption caseworker Deanna Stickle gets a tour in 2008 of two-year-old Jason's room. Colleen and Michael Siegert, are in the process of adopting their nephew Jason.

Only nine months earlier, Children's Rights, the national advocacy group whose lawsuit forced the state to commit to a complete overhaul in 2003, was on the brink of asking a federal judge to take over the system because so little progress had been achieved.

Children's Rights Associate Director Susan Lambiase said her advocacy group is convinced the state is firmly on the right path.

"New Jersey's child welfare system is being transformed by this court-ordered reform effort in ways that are producing increasingly clear and significant improvements in the lives of the state's abused and neglected children and their families,'' Lambiase said.

The state "must not only maintain the reforms it has made, but also translate them into still better results for the kids and families who depend on it,'' Lambiase said. "Children's Rights will continue to monitor its progress closely.''

Meltzer said the task from now on will get considerably harder. Beginning in January, New Jersey will have to statistically show children and families are faring better because of the vast improvements to the system. The state will have to demonstrate, for instance, the vast majority of children are spending less time in foster care, and few get separated from their siblings.

The department fell short in a few areas, but not by much, according to Meltzer's report.

The settlement required 80 percent of all children entering foster care in the last six months of 2008 to have received a thorough medical, dental and mental health evaluation. Instead, 77 percent of foster children received the exam, according to the report.

The settlement required DYFS to stop placing children younger than 13 in shelters, and to place teenagers in shelters only under specific circumstances, such as an alternative to juvenile detention as a temporary home for homeless children, or for other youth "in crisis" for no more than 45 days. During the last six months of 2008, 5 children under 13 lived in shelters, and 46 teens, or 11 percent, lived in shelters "inappropriately," the report said.

Child-welfare workers, who investigate abuse outside a child's home, such as in school, camp or in foster care, exceeded their caseload limit in December because of job vacancies.

Overall, Meltzer concluded the agency that was once so identified with failure is structurally sound. "From the outset, the Department of Children and Families has been dedicated to reaching all of the goals. . .and is to be commended on the substantial progress it has made during phase one," according to her report.

Meltzer, Lambiase from Children's Rights, and Children and families Commissioner Kimberley Ricketts are expected to discuss the report with U.S. District Court Judge Stanley Chesler in Newark this morning.